The 1978 2017 2023 Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar: April All Together Now

Hey, look, it's everybody from the Spider-Universe all together at one time! Except for the written-out-of-canon Spider-Mite! Also, Spider-Man himself seems to be missing, and I can't figure out why. More important: ginchy groovy Gwen Stacy, va-va-voom!

"April Is an Assortment of Amiable Associations!" in The Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar 1978 (1977); pencils by John Romita, Sr., inks by John Verpooten
(Click picture to GOOD LORD PETER WHERE DID YOU GET THAT JACKET-size)
For those of you new to the Spider-Family or who just need a gentle reminder, that's (L-R), Eugene "Flash" Thompson, Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy, Aunt Anna Watson, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May Parker, Peter Parker, Ned "No, I'm not the Hobgoblin, Honestly" Leeds, Betty Brant, Robbie Robertson, J. Jonah Jameson, and J. Jonah Jameson's coat. And they're all standing in front of one of the most important places in the Spider-Books, the venerable Coffee Bean, serving caffeinated drinks pretty much steadily right through now in the Marvel Universe. That remarkable tenure as an anti-Starbucks is even more astonishing when you consider it's been a long-time competition since the early Marvel Age with the X-Men's favorite hangout, Greenwich Village's Coffee A Go-Go. I don't know which one you prefer, so here's some help: Coffee A Go-Go has Bernard the Poet, and the Coffee Bean has Gwen Freakin' Stacy. I hope that settles the matter definitively.


Panel from [Uncanny] X-Men (1963 series) #31 (April 1967), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Werner Roth, inks by John Tartaglione, letters by Sam Rosen
By the way, are you wondering when Jazzy John Romita "snapped that photograph" so proudly presented in this month's calendar spread? Worried you can't pinpoint exactly when this happens in Spider-Chronology? Fret no more, gentle reader: it occurred during Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4, no doubt right after this pin-up scene! Note the identical outfits! Good golly, that jacket really is hideous, Peter.

Double-page pinup spread from Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1964 series) #4 (November 1967), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Larry Lieber, alternations on Gwen and Mary Jane by John Romita Sr. (and why not?), inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Stan Goldberg (?), letters by Sam Rosen
(Click picture to venti-size)
No, I don't know why Stan's calling it the Coffee Bean Barn here, either.

The 1978 2017 2023 Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar: January Jinx

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published January 1, 2017.

January! It's a month of white sales, exercise machine blow-outs, and half-price calendars! That's why I never buy a wall calendar until they're marked down the day after Christmas. Granted, you might get stuck with a Taylor Swift calendar, but...I'm sorry, I can't think of an immediate drawback to that one.

in 2017, I snagged The Vintage Marvel Comics 2017 Calendar!, which also works in this year of 2023! It's bigger than me!


Each month features a larger-than-life, full-color repro of a Marvel Comic cover, performated so you can remove them for fine-art-type framing!


With twelve oversized prints to hang on my walls, I won't even need wallpaper this year!


But what I really wanted to show you was another great comic book 1978 calendar that you can use again in 2023 because, as Professor S. Miller has taught us, time keeps on slippin slippin slippin into the future. It's the Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar 1978!


Check out the nifty back-cover full-color flashback mural!


Who better to star in the calendar's introduction than our star of last year's 366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, J...uh, Jonah Jameson!

None other than a guy I really respect, Matt D. Wilson, has written one of the definitive appreciations of JJJ in his "Threat or Menace: Celebrating the Brilliance of J. Jonah Jameson" on ComicsAlliance, a piece I took a lot of inspiration from when putting together 366 little salutes to Jameson. But I've just noticed that Matt sez

(The classic headline "Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?" really encapsulates the rhetoric, though it can’t be attributed to Lee. It first appears in relation to Spider-Man in 1981’s Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15, by Denny O'Neil and Frank Miller. Lee usually stuck to the more simple "Spider-Man: Menace.")

I believe I've found a definitive earlier use of the "Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?" headline here in this 1978 calendar. Matt's right, though; it's not by Lee. The text for this calendar was written by David Anthony Kraft and Jim Salicrup. Looks like I'd better update the Wikipedia article!


There's even a quick spotlight on how Spidey affects "random decent citizens," including a guy named Peter Parker. Hey, no dropping ash on Aunt May's sofa, Jonah!


Each calendar spread features a big twelve-by-twelve full-color pic illustrating Spider-Man and Peter Parker through the years, and I'll be showing them all to you at the beginning of every month throughout this year of 1978 2017 2023! First up: an Amazing Fantasy #15 flashback!


"January: A Time for Beginnings" in The Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar 1978 (Marvel, 1977), art by Al Milgrom ("in tribute to the one-and-only Steve Ditko")
And here you can see the January calendar itself. Check out the insane amount of detail; there's a big delight in every bite day!

(Click picture to '78 Ford LTD Landau Coupe-size)
So not only are you getting the 1978 DC Calendar, but the 1978 Marvel Calendar, all this year! Until their lawyers come down on me, so you'd better look fast. Excelsior!

Today in Comics History, November 12, 1996: We now return to Backdraft starring J. Jonah Jameson

cover of Daily Bugle #2 (Marvel, January 1997), pencils by Karl Kerschl, inks by Greg Adams

Today in Comics History, August 19, 2009: J. Jonah Jameson isn't really enjoying the taste of that boot leather

from Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man #3 (Marvel, October 2009), pencils by Chris Bachalo and Rob DiSalvo

Today in Comics History, August 6: Happy birthday, J. Jonah Jameson!

Hey! Did you know that according to the Marvel Age calendar, it's J. Jonah Jameson's birthday?


from Marvel Age #104 (Marvel, September 1991); text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Renee Witterstaetter
It might be non-canonical, but until a date appears confirmed in an actual comic, we're celebrating today by sending him photos of Spider-Man!

Happy birthday, Jonah!

Today in Comics History, May 24: Happy birthday, Maru!

Born today in 2007: the internet feline sensation Maru, the cat who loves to climb into boxes! If it fits, he sits! He even exists in the Marvel Universe!



from "Mysterio" in Spider-Man Spectacular #1 one-shot (Marvel, August 2014), script and letters by Joe Caramagna, pencils and inks by Jacopo Camagni, colors by SotoColor
Happy Sweet Fifteen, Maru!


"まるです１５。-I am Maru 15.-" by mugumogu (May 24, 2021)


"箱とねこ８。-A box and Maru 8.-" by mugumogu (June 19, 2011)

Today in Comics History, May 3, 1989: Temperature in Hell rises to a balmy 49 degrees F

from "Spidey versus J.J.J.!!" in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23 (Marvel, September 1989); script, pencils, and inks by Fred Hembeck; letters by Rick Parker (?)

Today in Comics History, April 11, 1976: Free with your purchase of this Daredevil comic: The Daily Bugle!

from Daredevil (1964 series) #135 (July 1976), script by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Bob Brown, inks by Jim Mooney, colors by Michele Wolfman, letters by Joe Rosen

The Marvel Age Calendar for 1994 2022: April Alucard Altercation

Because it's the first of the month, it's time once again for calendars from comic books that you can use in April 2022! How 'bout that? Isn't that convenient! That's why Bully Gives you More in '22! (My new slogan I've thought up three months too late to do anything with. Also, it would work better in '24.)

I break these things down into handy monthly installments to give you up-to-the-date and timely calendars from the world of comics! Remember: a 2022 calendar that doesn't arrive until April is of no use to anyone! (heh heh heh, chucking at the shade)

First up! An calendar for this month that might be useful if only Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich was transparent! Haven't you always wished for that? I myself have written extensive What If? fan fiction based on that very concept. Someday it will become canon!


from Amazing Spider-Man #359 (Marvel, February 1992), script by David Michelinie, pencils by Chris Marrinan, inks by Keith Williams, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Rick Parker
Or, if that doesn't work, how about this backwards calendar from the wacky world of Archie "April" Andrews! Naw, now that I think of it, the only ones who would find this useful would be Benjamin Button and River Song.


from Archie's Weird Mysteries #20 (Archie, June 2002), script by Paul Castiglia, pencils by Fernando Ruiz, ink by Rich Koslowski, colors by Stephanie Vozzo, letters by Vickie Williams
Aw, okay, here 'tis a real calendar for April 2022, even if it came out in 1994 and you have to color it yourself. (I suggest many black crayons. Have at it, you April vampire-hunters!

"Classic Clash #4: Dracula vs. Blade" from Marvel Age #136 (Marvel, May 1994), pencils by Darren Auck, inks by Scott Koblish
(Click picture to vampirisize)
(PS: Easter is not this weekend. I shoulda Photoshopped that out. Ah well.)

And there's more calendars for this month over the next couple hours! Be there or be somewhere else, because you can always come back later and still get them!

365 Days of Power and Responsibility, Day 54: Happy 800th Time Spider-Man Has Said That Phrase*

Panel from "The Goblin Triumphant" in Amazing Spider-Man #800 (July 2018), by a whole lotta guys
*This month.

365 Days of Power and Responsibility, Day 44: He's only thwipping what we're all thinking

Panels from Peter Parker: Spider-Man (1999 series) #5 (April 2000), script by Howard Mackie, pencils by John Romita, Jr., inks by Scott Hanna, colors by Gregory Wright, letters by Richard Starkings and Troy Peteri
Yes, I know he's splooshing and not twhipping. Don't sploosh, Spider-Man. Don't sploosh.

365 Days of Power and Responsibility, Day 27: So...pretty much just like our universe, huh?

Panels from What If? (1977 series) #19 (February 1980), script by Peter Gillis, pencils by Pat Broderick, inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Roger Slifer, letters by Tom Orzechowski

365 Days of Power and Responsibility, Day 16: Extra, extra, read all about it

Panels from Spider-Gwen (December 2015 series) #1 (December 2015), script by Jason Latour, pencils and inks by Robbi Rodriguez, colors by Rico Renzi, letters by Clayton Cowles

Today in Comics History, January 30, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1996: Spider-Man goes berserk; Daily Bugle runs out of black ink

cover of Web of Spider-Man #13 (Marvel, April 1986), pencils by Mark Beachum, inks by Joe Rubinstein

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 12: And now these words from Alpo

Here's the special Silver Age-flavored guest appearance by Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon that I mentioned yesterday, from the classic Amazing Spider-Man #50! And J. Jonah Jameson! Hi Jonah! No, you don't count as a celebrity.


Panel from Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) #50 (July 1967); script by Stan Lee; pencils by John Romita, Sr.; inks by Mike Esposito; letters by Sam Rosen

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 366: We still all want pictures of Spider-Man

My first encounter with J. Jonah Jameson, before I was even reading comic books, was in The Amazing Spider-Man comic strip, and then later in the same year as played by Robert F. Simon in The Amazing Spider-Man TV series. When I dove horns first into the world of comics around '79, my Marvel book of collection choice was Star Wars (#21, prominently cover-featuring Darth Vader, was the first Marvel comic I ever bought), but not too long after that expanded into The Avengers and the (as-yet Uncanny) X-Men. (Smack dab in the middle of the Shooter Age was a good time to pick up X-Men: my first ish was #137 and I was barely confused at all.) But as my interest in the Marvel Universe expanded, I began picking up Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man (my first issue was #50) and Amazing Spider-Man (a coverless copy of #200 from the long-gone Economy Book Store in Syracuse, New York). So I met the comics version of J. Jonah Jameson. And from every exposure I'd had to him...I thought he was a jerk. (Hence the classic '80s issue where Kitty Pryde declared "J. Jonah Jameson is a jerk!")

Then, as Frank Miller started to make his mark writing and pencilling Daredevil, I added the Man Without Fear to my pull list, and in issue #177, I came across the scene where J. Jonah Jameson actually acted like a thoughtful, responsible journalist with more nuance than just shouting maniacally about Spider-Man, and I started to like JJJ as a character. When I posted that scene back in May of this year, I accompanied with the Gore Vidal quote "Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half."

It's been a difficult year, personally and socially, for this little stuffed bull and his closest friends, and you've probably noticed lengthy stretches when I don't post, but I've always tried to catch up later so you have these posts every day at the very least. This year I lost some people very close to me, and lost many who were great personal heroes of mine. But one of the great things about superhero comics, and one that I love best about them, is that they go on. Fifty-four years later, when he should be putting up his webbed feet and sitting back to relax, Peter Parker is still swingin', the high school student now become a global industrialist (altho' I'd be surprised if that doesn't continue to change). Jonah has also changed professions and positions within the Marvel Universe (remember Hizzoner Jameson?), but he's still serving the same general purpose: to bedevil Peter, to shout at Spider-Man, and to pursue the truth. (I also especially like his role as a encouraging mentor to Cindy Moon in Silk.)

By the end of the year, when we would despair of the media reporting "fake news" or "Twitteralism," I'd post now and then a Jonah panel accompanied by the message of "See, media? That's how you do it." And in the end, that's become why I love Jonah and why he's more vital than ever. We don't live in a world of evil scientists with mechanical arms or intelligent killer lizards or thugs made outta sand; our nemeses can be both very subtle and very overt, but they still need battling. We don't live in a world of Spider-Men, more's the pity, so I look up to journalists and writers who do their homework and speak truth to power. In 2016 there was even one writer — Ta-Nehisi Coates — doing both that and creating comic books. We need more creators like him. We need more comics by and about people of color and LGBT persons; we need much more than superhero comics, but they still serve a place.

As does J. Jonah Jameson. I'm hoping in 2017 he continues to be a major Spider-character, and that he continues to be an antagonist, if not a nemesis. We need somebody to rant and rave at those guys in spandex and leather, to kick our asses into gear, to remind us that the four-color world can teach us about the world outside our window. After all, Spider-Man endures — may JJJ do as well. Any place Spidey is back in action, we need someone yelling for photos of him.

Thanks, Jonah, for helping us laugh at Spider-Man...again.


Panels from Amazing Spider-Man 1963 series (July 1967) #50 (July 1967), script by Stan Lee; pencils by John Romita, Sr.; inks by Mike Esposito; letters by Sam Rosen
Tomorrow!: Well, it's a new year, isn't it? Keep your pulley tuned to Bully and keep looking to the stars! (Is that a hint? It just might...be! Or not!)

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 365: Spider-Man is not a work of art, but he's hanging on a wall

Hey Jonah, how would you sum up this year's "366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson"?


Panel from Fear Itself: Spider-Man #1 (July 2011), script by Chris Yost, pencils and inks by Mike McKone, colors by Jeromy Cox, letters by Joe Caramagna
BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA! It's funny because it's true!

But actually, only one issue later in Fear Itself (the crossover event no one really ever wanted, right?), there's a scene that I really love, one of my favorites, one that so sharply shows how the prickly relationship between JJJ and Spidey has evolved, and the grudging respect that the newspaperman really does have deep down (waaaaaay deep deep down) for what Spider-Man is and can do. Because when the going gets tough, Jonah lights a fire under Spidey's finely toned butt.


Panels from Fear Itself: Spider-Man #2 (August 2011), script by Chris Yost, pencils and inks by Mike McKone, colors by Jeromy Cox, letters by Joe Caramagna
If you think about a lot, even though he's lost a lot of father figures (his dad, Ben Parker, George Stacy), her'll always have one in J. Jonah Jameson. A grumpy, yelly, manipulative father figures who doles out an allowance in drips and drizzles, yeah, but some of Spider-Man's most valuable lessons about life have been learned from his most irascible supporting character. Here's to you, Jonah, and forever may you kick butt into gear.

Tomorrow: The End.

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 364: 101 Uses for a Spider-Man Poster

Panels from Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) #41 (October 1966); script by Stan Lee; pencils and ink alterations by John Romita, Sr.; inks by Mike Esposito; letters by Artie Simek

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 363: It'll behoove ya to care for Jonah's uvula

Splash page from Marvel Team-Up (1997 series) #2 (October 1997), script by Tom Peyer, breakdowns by Pat Olliffe, finishes by Al Milgrom, colors by Tom Smith, letters by Bill Oakley
Well, that's not the last time, but December 31 is coming soon, so as those band of happy moptops once sang, it's getting very near the end.

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 362: The Fuppets Take Manhattan

It's those lazy crazy hazy days between Christmas and New Year's when we don't have to go back to school yet but we've already broken all our holiday toys* (not me, I'm really careful with 'em, altho I've eaten all my stocking candy), and if you're anything like me, you're bored and want a project to occupy your hooves. Well, I've dug my way into Bully's Comics Vault and come up with an issue of Crazy, the House of Idea's second-tier parody magazine for when you couldn't find MAD at the newsstand. Mind you, even if Crazy isn't as acclaimed as its Distinguished Competition, they did have a decent bullpen of writers and artists. This ish contains stuff written or drawn by Marv Wolfman, Bobby London, Mike Ploog, Bob Foster, Marie Severin, John Buscema, and even Jack Kirby's Fin Fang Foom reprinted with new humorous dialogue by Christopher Priest aka Jim Owsley!

Crazy also occasionally featured do-it-yourself shoebox puppet theaters and finger puppets called Fuppets, for clever portmanteau purposes as well as please-don't-sue-us copyright reasons. And it co-stars J. Jonah Jameson, who I know you've been dying to put your fingers up inside of! Dig out your own copy of Crazy #73 (I know you've got one somewhere), get out your paste and scissors (or have an adult get out paste and scissors for you) so you can make the whole shebang! (I'm only reposting a few pages from it, but you get the general DIY idea.)


Panels from "The Fabulous Fuppets Starring in the Spider-Man Television Theatre" in Crazy Magazine #73 (April 1981), script by Steve Skeates, puppet art by John Romita, Sr., props and scenery art by Ron Zalme
The feature provides it all: finger puppets Fuppets™...


...props...yes, that is an iron lung to put Aunt May into!


...several switchable backdrops for real shoebox action!...


...scripts, with dialogue punched up by David Mamet...


But best of all, here's the two-page how-to-do-it comic segment that gives us the groundbreaking Marvel Team-Up of J. Jonah Jameson and the Incredible Hulk! JONAH WILL SMASH!



So don't just sit there and read comic books on your Christmas vacation: take JJJ's advice and go out and make stuff! Alternate Christmas vacation activity: just sit there and read comic books.